


powder snow

by hypercatt



Category: South Park
Genre: Baking, Christmas, Established Relationship, Friendship, M/M, big weenie hours
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 10:34:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21848281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hypercatt/pseuds/hypercatt
Summary: Tweek goes on a mission to find out what Craig likes best.
Relationships: Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak
Comments: 9
Kudos: 140





	powder snow

**Author's Note:**

> another year another krimmas fic :oooo  
> this is really dumb and simple but lol i had cube vibes writing it ;w;;;;  
> hope you enjoy!!!

It had officially started.

“They’ve already put the Christmas tree up?”

Tweek turned around from his place at the front of their queue, following Token’s stare to the tree propped up in the corner of the cafeteria. It was the same one they put up every year, branches fake but still seeming to wilt. Somehow it was decorated with less and less baubles each time it made its appearance.

“’Already’?” Clyde repeated from behind him, frowning. “Dude, what are you saying? It’s the 2nd. That means it’s already the second day of Christmas. If anything, it’s late.”

"Ngh, we’ve had our tree up in the café since November 15th,” Tweek said, forcing himself to look forwards again so the queue wouldn’t move on without him. He never normally stood at the front of the group, nor without Craig next to him, but there was a reason it had to be like this today. The Christmas tree being there just proved it.

“People really like celebrating early, huh?” Token said, and Tweek just jerked his shoulders in an attempted shrug.

“W-well, it’s hard not to get caught in the ff-fuh-festive cheer,” Jimmy added, then paused. “Unless you’re Cuh-Craig, that is.”

At that, Tweek couldn’t help but look around again, following the others as they stared at Craig, who blinked up from his place at the end of their line.

“I don’t mind Christmas.”

“Yeah, I can tell from how wide you’re smiling,” Clyde said, rolling his eyes. Still, despite Craig’s seemingly apathetic face, it didn’t sound like he was lying. Tweek let out a small sigh of relief. If it turned out that Craig hated Christmas, this was going to end before it had even began.

Again, the line moved forwards, and Tweek had to focus on the near impossible task of getting his lunch without dropping his tray, before hurrying to find a table they could all sit at. His hand twitched against his fork as he waited for the others, counting the seconds in his head. It didn’t take that long for them to join. Which meant- he didn’t have a lot of time.

Just as Jimmy’s tray touched the table, Tweek decided it was time to speak up.

“Do any of you know Craig’s favourite Christmas treat?” he blurted out, then bit his lip. He wasn’t planning to ask quite that directly, but...it worked.

“Hm?” Token looked up. “What do you mean?”

“Like, nghh...gingerbread or cake, or...something? Do you know?”

“He never mentioned it,” Token said, frowning slightly. “At least not that I can think of.”

“Can’t you just ask?” Clyde said through a mouthful of food, ever impatient to start eating. “Since you’re dating and all.”

“No, it’s-“

Tweek cut himself off with a twitch, spotting Craig approaching their table. Already out of time?? He hadn’t even got anywhere _near_ an answer yet. Tweek grabbed his fork, watching carefully (but hopefully not too obviously) as Craig got nearer. As soon as Craig put his lunch down, Tweek let his loosened his grip, letting the fork clatter to the floor. He stared down at it with what was hopefully a convincingly dismayed face.

“It’s okay,” Craig said, passing over the fork from his own tray. “Use mine. I’ll go get another.”

“O-oh, thanks.” That had worked better than expected. Tweek had just assumed he’d go back and get him another, not give him his own. That was kind of embarrassing, somehow, even if in a nice way.

The four of them watched as Craig trailed over to the other side of cafeteria, then back to face one another.

"Is it a secret?” Clyde asked, grinning now. Tweek gave a quick nod. “I’ll set up a group chat so we can discuss it!”

“But none of us know the answer,” Token pointed out, then glanced at Jimmy. “Do you?”

“Nope, no idea.”

“Well, maybe you might remember something, ngh?” Tweek swerved around, looking out for Craig. Already on his way back. Definitely not enough time to get an answer again. It would’ve been fine if he could’ve just got a quick simple answer, but now it was a lot more complicated. Well, he still had one more shot. And if Clyde set up a group, that was another opportunity...

This was already starting to feel like a lot of pressure.

“Well, I’m sure we can figure something out,” Token said, voice calm as always, and Tweek gave a jerky nod. The beat in the conversation came at exactly the right time, as Craig reappeared, sitting down beside him with a new fork.

“Who are you texting?” he asked, glancing over to Clyde, who was furiously tapping away at his phone.

“Bebe,” Clyde said, without looking up. For a second or two, Tweek convinced himself that there was no way Clyde was going to be as obvious to set up the group chat _right_ _there_ , with Craig only inches away, before he felt his phone buzz several times in succession in his pocket. Oh god. Hopefully Craig didn’t feel that.

The rest of lunch passed like it always did, to the point that Tweek almost forgot to try the second phase of his plan. Only as they were about to leave, he remembered what was in his bag, trembling as he pulled it onto his lap.

“I, ngh, have something to ask,” he said, rummaging around all the old papers collected at the bottom of his bag to find the plastic container. “My dad wanted me to try out some new recipes for this month, so...”

“You made cookies?” Clyde asked, sitting up instantly and pressing his hands over his chest. “Tweek, are you trying to steal my heart?”

“Agh, what??”

“Looks like you’ve got some compe-pe-petition, Craig,” Jimmy said with a grin, and was met with a middle finger from Craig.

“Thanks, Tweek,” Token said as Tweek pushed the box towards the middle of the table, making sure to keep the lid halfway on. The last thing he needed was someone like Cartman getting a whiff of them and stealing the entire box. It was risky enough just having them in plain sight here on the table.

“How is this not seduction?” Clyde said with his mouth full, leaning across the table. “Peppermint and candy cane?? That’s unfair.”

Well, at least he had someone’s approval...though Tweek was pretty convinced Clyde would never say a bad word against any kind of food. But, the person’s opinion who he really wanted to know...

“...Do you like it?” Tweek turned to Craig, twitching a little. He wasn’t spitting it out, or choking, or throwing up, but-

Craig glanced at him, cookie in hand. “Don’t worry, babe. It’s good.”

‘Good?? Was that the best, or worst? It didn’t sound that enthusiastic, but then Craig was never really openly enthusiastic about anything. Maybe he said good when he really liked it? Or hated it. Oh god, Tweek had no idea. He needed more things to compare it with. More reactions to judge where ‘fine’ fell on the scale of terrible to amazing.

“Thanks, Tweek,” Jimmy said, smiling at him from across the table. “Pretty s-sweet.”

“Yeah, if you sell these at your shop, I’ll definitely buy one,” Token added, and Tweek blinked, before smiling back. He hadn’t really expected them all to be so nice about it. It was just a recipe he’d made up as he went, jotting it down in a book covered in flour and trying not to miss anything out. If they liked it that much, maybe he could ask to sell it at the café.

“You want to start heading to class?” Token asked, picking up his tray.

“Not really,” Craig said, but followed along anyway. Tweek let Clyde take one last cookie from the box before he tucked it back into his bag. Well, it hadn’t gone _that_ badly. He still didn’t have an answer, but...

“I made the chat,” Clyde half-whispered to him as they trailed along behind the others. “Don’t worry, we’ll solve the mystery of Craig.”

“Gah, it’s not that big of a deal,” Tweek muttered, biting his lip to keep his voice quiet.

Clyde just shook his head, before attempting a wink, screwing up half his face in effort. Tweek just looked away. It was nice that they were all so nice to him, even if Tweek was still sometimes convinced he didn’t really fit in. After all, if it wasn’t for Craig, they’d probably never talk to him at all.

Speaking of...Craig wasn’t in his next class, and right now he was busy talking to Token and Jimmy, so maybe now would be a good time to check what Clyde had said. It seemed stupid checking now, when they were stood right next to each other, but it might come in useful for later, at least.

“I made the chat red, for Christmas colours,” Clyde explained as he opened up the group chat. There were only three messages so far, all from Clyde.

_Clyde: This is the chat to find out what craig likes best!!!!!  
Clyde: Other than tweek lol ;)  
Clyde: If anyone thinks of things he likes to eat plz tell_

“What if he just doesn’t like sweets, ngh?” Tweek asked, twitching at the thought. “Gah, what if he just ate the cookie before to be polite, since he didn’t want me to get upset or freak out or anything-“

“I don’t think he’d do that,” Clyde said, then paused. “Probably.”

“Gah!!”

“But he always eats cake at birthday parties,” Clyde said, frowning thoughtful and narrowly avoiding bumping into one of the table’s as they exited the cafeteria. “So I’m pretty sure.”

Tweek just bit his lip, looking at Craig up in front. It was hard for him to even imagine what would be his favourite, if he had one at all. His top choice had been cookies, just because they seemed pretty basic and normal, but the reaction of ‘thanks Tweek, these are my favourite’ he was waiting for had never come. Just ‘fine’. And Tweek had no idea what to do with that.

The first reply to the group chat didn’t come until two minutes before Tweek’s class was supposed to start, when he was already sat at his desk, fiddling with his phone. The vibration made him jump, though he managed to stop himself from making any noises, thank god. None of the others were in this class, so he didn’t even have anyone to move towards to make himself look less weird.

_Token: I really can't think of anything, honestly. Are you sure we can't just ask?  
Clyde: DUDE thats ruining the magic of presents  
Clyde: Its a present right tweek??  
Tweek: I guesss??? ??  
Jimmy: Maybe trick him into saying it? Couldn't be that hard  
Tweek: A trick???.?  
Token: Trick him how?  
Clyde: WAIT  
Clyde: WAIT I HAVE AN IDEA  
Jimmy: ? What is it?  
Clyde: THE TEACHERS HERE SHES LOOKIGN AT ME SO GOTA GO ILL TEL U LATER BYE_

Just as Clyde’s last message buzzed through, Tweek’s own teacher walked through the door, and he quickly shoved the phone into his pocket. The last thing he wanted right now was to get his phone confiscated by twitching too obviously at a text message. He was pretty sure the others would keep messaging throughout class, since they were a lot better at hiding it than him, but he’d just have to catch up later. Hopefully nothing bad happened in that hour.

Luckily, the lesson ticked by without any earthquakes or aliens, and Tweek was able to check the rest of the texts as soon as the bell rang, hurrying to get his bag onto his shoulder. No way was he ever going to risk being late for a class, even if he had the safety net of Token in his next one.

_Token: Don't get your phone confiscated again.  
Clyde: That was jimmys fault he sent me a gif and it made me laugh  
Jimmy: :)  
Clyde: NO MY IDEA IS  
Clyde: Tweek u should just give him loads of random snacks and see which he likes best  
Clyde: LIKE theres bound to be something  
Token: Oh, that's not actually a bad idea.  
Clyde: Just say its for ur shop and u wanna test more recipes  
Clyde: Then we get to eat more too :))_

Tweek’s hands twitched as he tried to type a reply whilst standing up and manoeuvring around the desks, jerking away as someone brushed against his shoulder.

_Tweek: But I dont't know how to mmake other stuff!!?  
Tweek: IF I make it shitty he's goingn to hate it ayway!!!!  
Clyde: Really???? I thought u could make anything  
Tweek: I Only mske what my dad asks me tomake_

Getting down the corridors was even harder than the classroom, with crowds lingering by their lockers and blocking half the school off. Couldn’t they just- move?? Tweek was sure he was amongst the only people in the school who actually cared about being on time. At last, Tweek finally managed to get a glimpse of Token’s face, pulling himself through the crowds to join his friend in waiting outside the class.

“Oh, hey, Tweek,” Token greeted as Tweek stepped beside him, pressing himself against the wall. “You good?”

“Ngh,” Tweek replied, and Token raised an eyebrow. “Math.”

“Ah.” Token nodded in understanding, then glanced back down at his phone. At the same time, Tweek’s buzzed in his pocket. “Looks like Clyde’s got some big ideas again.”

There was a new string of messages when Tweek pulled out his phone, glancing quickly across Clyde’s flurry of capital letters. He was asking to meet them in the Home Ec class after school. Tweek’s mind flashed suddenly. The Home Ec classroom?? There were a lot of sharp tools in there. Knives, and stuff. Oh god, was Clyde going to kill them all? Had they gone too far? Though, Tweek was pretty sure Clyde wasn’t the type of person to suddenly snap. Unless, his mind had been altered and all along he’d been right-

“Oh god, was it aliens after all?!” Tweek burst out, looking up from his phone with wide eyes. Token clearly wasn’t following, since he mostly just looked taken aback.

“What? I think he just wants to talk about baking. You know, for Craig?”

“...Oh.” Well, that made sense too. Though Tweek definitely still wasn’t going to let his guard down.

-

The Home Ecs was one of those weird places in the school that kind of ironically didn’t end up completely trashed by the end of the day. Maybe it was something to do with health and safety, or maybe it just wasn’t used enough to accumulate much damage, but the few times Tweek had been there, it had looked almost untouched. It almost startled him to see Clyde perched on one of the counters, out of place amongst everything else. Jimmy had settled on the more conventional option of a chair.

“Somehow I feel like you’re not supposed to sit on there,” Token said as they walked into the room, and Tweek glanced around. Maybe it also looked weird because it was so dark. Without the lights on, and the sun already setting outside, it was like an abandoned classroom in a post-apocalypse situation.

“What’s the worst that’s gonna happen?” Clyde said, swinging his legs a little. “It’s not like I’m gonna get salmonella in my ass.”

“That’s really not what I meant?”

“M-maybe you’ll be the world’s fuh-first case,” Jimmy proposed, looking up at Clyde thoughtfully. “You could have a w-world famous ass.”

“My ass is already world famous,” Clyde said, but looked a little more uncertain now. Tweek was sure he was trying to look casual as he pulled himself off the counter, like it was all his own choice and nothing at all to do with ass salmonella. “None of you told Craig you were coming, right?”

The question was phrased like it involved all of them, yet the three of them were staring directly at Tweek. “Gah! I didn’t tell him! I just said I needed to talk to a teacher.”

“Okay, good,” Clyde said, then grinned. “So, my idea. Since none of us know what Craig likes, and it’s really important to find out so Tweek can have a proper Christmas romance-“

“Ack!”

“- I was thinking we can all pick something we know how to make, and try to figure it out! That way it’s less obvious. And we can all just come here, since they already have all the stuff.”

“I know how to make gingerbruh-bruhead,” Jimmy added, smiling easily. “My mom taught me when I was a k-kid.”

“I don’t know if I know how to make anything, though,” Token said, frowning for a moment, before looking back up. “Oh, actually-“

“Then it’s decided!” Clyde said with a firm nod of his head, then turned to Tweek. “Right?”

“...I...guess it could work?” Tweek fidgeted his hands together. “But it would have to be on Fridays, or else Craig might wanna join. But- ngh! He won’t on Fridays.”

“Aw, that’s sweet that you know his schedule so well,” Token said with a smile, and Tweek flushed slightly.

“Gah, it’s not that!! It’s just that he never shuts up about how he’s gotta watch the Red Racer remake on time or else it ‘ruins the atmosphere’! Whatever _that_ means!!”

“Well, I can do Fridays,” Token followed on. “Is this week good for everyone?”

“N-no problem from me,” Jimmy said, and Clyde nodded again beside him, even more enthusiastically.

“Don’t worry, Tweek! We’re not gonna let you down.”

As much as he wanted to protest again that it wasn’t really _that_ big of a deal, it was kind of sweet to have them all offering to help. Even if the reason was kind of embarrassing. But- if he could find something Craig really liked then...it might be worth the embarrassment.

-

“I’m just saying, if I was a Girl Scout, I’d expect to have to break some kneecaps for these.”

Tweek wasn’t entirely sure if Clyde was joking, but looking down at what Token had brought, he wholeheartedly agreed. Half of these brands he’d never even heard of, and the other half he only knew for their price infamy.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Token said, looking slightly embarrassed. “My mom just wanted me to use some of our stuff up before the end of the year. I never really bake, so...”

“Oh _Jesus_!” Tweek exclaimed, taking a step back as he caught a glimpse of the price label. “Fifteen dollars for _butter_?!”

“That’s not that much, is it?”

“Token, I would gladly,” Clyde started, placing a hand on Token’s shoulder. “Become your trophy wife, if you ever need one.”

“That’s p-pretty gay, Clyde,” Jimmy said, as Token brushed Clyde’s hand off him.

“Nothing’s gay if it’s for enough money,” Clyde said, and Tweek twitched. He wondered if that applied to him and Craig. His allowance had gone up three times after they starting dating, but Tweek was still pretty sure he was gay.

“Well, anyway,” Token said, taking a step towards the numerous bowls that Clyde had already taken out and placed on the side. “I don’t really think I can teach you any better than an internet recipe. Like I said, I’m not that big on baking. But, it’s just peppermint bark, so hopefully it should be okay?”

Tweek glanced from the ingredients laid out to the rest of the room. It was still as untouched as it had been the other day, but now looked a little livelier with all the lights turned on, and the four of them crowded around the cooking area. It had been easy to get permission off the Home Ec teacher to use the room too. Apparently just nobody in this school liked cooking.

“Actually, does it still count as baking if you don’t cook anything?” Token carried on, frowning. “Feels kind of like cheating if you’re not using an oven.”

“That’s like saying iced coffee doesn’t count as real coffee,” Tweek said, then reconsidered. “Well, even though it’s _not_ , it still counts.”

“Yeah, like, there’s tons of stuff you don’t bake,” Clyde said. “Cheesecake and fudge and cookie dough.”

“Ngh, aren’t you supposed to cook that?”

Clyde looked straight at him. “Not if you’re brave enough.”

“This is exactly why Clyde is nuh-number one suspect for getting ass sa-salmonella.”

“Dude, that’s not a thing!”

“So, uh, you have to break and heat up the chocolate first,” Token said, effectively distracting Tweek from whatever was happening in Jimmy and Clyde’s conversation. “And you don’t have to, but my dad always added a bit of butter. Just to make it thicker, I guess?”

“That- makes sense.” Tweek was glad that the others didn’t watch him too closely as he started to break up the chocolate. Chocolate that was probably worth more than his house. Oh god. There better not suddenly be a wrong way to break up chocolate, because Tweek would definitely find it, and end up in debt for life. Next time he was going to insist on bringing his own ingredients, and not let anyone stop him.

To Tweek’s surprise, he was already halfway through stirring the chocolate before the most obvious topic came up. He was watching the last few bumps of solid chocolate melt into the rest when Token spoke up.

“Thinking about it now, does anyone remember if Craig used to eat this back in elementary school? When the girls used to sell it?”

“I tried flirting with some of them to give it me for cheaper,” Clyde said, then sighed. “It never worked though.”

“Gee, I w-wonder why,” Jimmy said with a snicker, and Clyde just pouted. “But, I don’t really remem-reme-remember. It really is a mystery.”

“Does that ever get annoying?” Token asked suddenly, turning to Tweek. “Like, you two are dating. But Craig is never open about anything.”

“Ack! I- don’t think so??” Tweek tried to think back. Maybe at the start, it had been difficult to get used to, but now? He was pretty sure he was well accustomed to all of Craig’s subtle ways of communicating. Just like Craig was with Tweek’s. “I don’t think it’s that hard.”

“As expected of Craig’s one true love,” Clyde said, shaking his head, and Tweek turned back to the chocolate, staring down hard. Clyde really was...way too direct. “Even if he did like something, I don’t think I’d be able to tell.”

“B-but he’s pretty obvious,” Jimmy pointed out. “Even if he doesn’t s-say it. Just think about Tweek.”

“Oh, that was pretty obvious, huh,” Token said thoughtfully. “I guess you’re right.”

“Gah!!” Tweek gripped his hair. “Why am I always your example of what Craig likes?? He likes you guys too, ack!!”

“Yeah, but.” Clyde waved his hand around, and the others nodded. “He’s really gay for you.”

“Really gay.”

“You can’t deny it, Tweek.”

“Nghh!” Tweek just kept his attention on the pan, sternly stirring even though all the chocolate lumps had already disappeared. If anything, the heat from his face was probably helping it to melt.

-

If there was one thing Colorado weather was good for, it was making sure chocolate didn’t melt in his bag.

Tweek kept it close to his side as they walked, one hand keeping it securely in place whilst the other was wrapped around Craig’s. Two days had passed since Token had helped to make the peppermint bark, and Tweek had kept it safely in the fridge the entire time, just to double (and triple) make sure all the chocolate had set properly. They’d been in Tweek’s bag throughout the entire day, but with this kind of cold, he was pretty confident they would stay solid.

“Um,” Tweek started, feeling both more relaxed and nervous when he felt Craig’s focus turn to him. “Actually- I think I’ll have to stay at school late again this Friday, too.”

“For the recipes?” Craig asked. Tweek nodded.

“You’re not mad, are you? We can’t watch together now...”

“It’s fine,” Craig said, shrugging one shoulder. “It’s better to watch new stuff separately anyway, I think. Then you can pay attention better.”

“Oh, yeah. That makes sense.” Tweek thought about giving the chocolate over at that moment, then diverted again, like he had done about fifteen times that day. “Ngh, was last week’s episode good?”

“It was okay.” Craig’s expression didn’t change, and Tweek knew that was a real ‘just okay’, and not anything better or worse. If only it was that easy to judge how he felt about sweet stuff. “They changed some stuff that didn’t really need to be changed. Everyone was saying it was dumb.”

“I mean, if you put a show from the nineties in today’s society, obviously people are going to complain.”

“Yeah,” Craig said, nodding. Tweek took a deep breath. They didn’t have much time left before they reached Craig’s house, and Tweek had to work after. This was his last chance of the day. And who knew how long they’d last before the candy cane went all sticky and gross.

“Ack, I actually-“ Tweek started rummaging in his bag before he’d even managed to finish the sentence, feeling the cold on his fingertips as he let go of Craig’s hand. The tissue he’d wrapped them in was still together, thank god- “I had some extra, when- I was testing, so. Maybe you want some?? But- ack, it’s okay if you don’t!!”

Craig blinked as Tweek finally held out the wrapped up box, feeling like some schoolgirl handing over chocolates on Valentine’s Day.

“Oh, again?” Craig took it from him and opened up the lid. “Thanks. It looks good.”

“Really??” Tweek honestly doubted that. On Friday he’d definitely got a little trigger-happy with the rolling-pin when bashing up the candy cane, to the point that the bark was barely recognisable anymore.

“Yeah, seriously.” Craig went to put the lid back on the box, and Tweek twitched.

“Can you taste one??” he asked, and Craig looked at him. God, this was so stupidly embarrassing- “Just to see if it’s really okay!!”

“Sure, babe.” It was that tone of voice he used whenever he thought Tweek was being overly paranoid about something, and he definitely _was_ , but not for the reason Craig was thinking. Tweek bit his lip, standing still as he watched Craig take a bite.

“Is it okay??”

“Yeah,” Craig said, swallowing. “It’s good.”

Still just good. Just good?? That had been the exact same reaction as last time! Did that mean he liked it the same? Or maybe less? More? Oh god, this hadn’t helped at all. In a way, he almost had less to go off now than before.

“Make sure you rest too though, honey,” Craig carried on as he finished off the chocolate. “Don’t let your dad work you too hard.”

“No, I like baking...” Tweek frowned down at the snow, taking Craig’s hand again even though they only had two minutes left to walk. Peppermint bark wasn’t a winner then. But wasn’t a loser either?? Oh god, this was so confusing.

He’d have to try something else. This still wasn’t a good enough answer.

-

Surprisingly enough, Jimmy had a slightly more complicated recipe than Token.

“I didn’t know you knew so much about baking, ack!” Tweek said, gazing at the array of ingredients Jimmy had brought in. And that wasn’t even including the ones that Tweek had brought in himself, filling in the few Jimmy didn’t have already.

“No, I don’t really know a-anything,” he said, smiling good-naturedly. “My parents taught me as a kuh-kid.”

“Actually, I have a good feeling about this one,” Token said. “Gingerbread is pretty popular. I can see Craig liking something basic like this.”

“Wow, you even bought the cutters,” Clyde said, picking one up and holding it to his eye. “If you twisted it a little, do you think you could make someone with like, four arms and legs? Like, an octopus person?”

“I’ll leave that one to you,” Token said, and Clyde just stared at the cutters thoughtfully. 

“Stuh-starting is pretty simple,” Jimmy said, turning to Tweek as he pulled one of the bowls towards him. “You just have to m-mmix the ingredients together. Starting with the butt-butter.”

“Oh, that’s pretty similar to cookies,” Tweek said, copying Jimmy’s movements.

“You should make more of those,” Clyde said, leaning beside Jimmy to watch the two of them. “And everything else too. Once a week isn’t enough.”

“What are you going to do once Christmas ends and nobody is making anything?” Token asked. Clyde paused, then turned to look at Tweek.

“Tweek,” he started, using that tone of voice that Tweek knew never resulted in anything good. “Could I become your sugar baby? Except like, literal sugar. No sex, only cookies.”

Tweek jerked back. “What are you talking about?!”

“No but, wouldn’t that be a good business idea?” Clyde carried on, leaning further onto the counter. “Like, I give you something like a few dollars, and you make stuff for me?”

“You mean like, exchanging money for cookies?” Token said, and Jimmy seemed to bite back a grin.

“Yes!!” Clyde exclaimed, nodding. “Exactly like that! It’s good, right dude?”

“Clyde, that is literally just a café.”

“And I already have one of those!!” Tweek said, stirring the sugar and butter around rapidly. “So you don’t need to do any weird shit, ack!!”

“You guys just don’t get it,” Clyde said, pulling a face.

“It’s okay, C-Clyde, we understand your desire to be a s-sugar baby.”

Despite the frequent jokes, Jimmy’s instructions were easy to follow, and Tweek was mostly confident that he hadn’t completely botched the recipe. By the time they were cutting out the shapes, Tweek’s dough didn’t even look that different to Jimmy’s.

“I’m just saying it was shitty of them to give us so much work at the end of the year,” Clyde was saying, playing with the cutter at the edge of Jimmy’s dough. Tweek was glad he had Token working on his side. “I only finished that stupid project for History like, ten minutes before the end of lunch.”

“But you did finish it, right?” Token asked, raising an eyebrow. “Like, actually finish?”

“Clyde-finished and actually-finished are two very d-different things,” Jimmy added, and based on what Tweek had seen of Clyde’s homework, he couldn’t help but agree.

“Actually finished!! I’m gonna print it toni-“ Clyde stopped suddenly, hands stilling on the cookie cutter as he stared down with a blank expression. Tweek twitched slightly, waiting for him to continue. Very slowly, Clyde looked up at the rest of them with the expression of a dead man. “I left my USB in the library. Oh shit.”

“Yeah, that’s about what I expected,” Token said, sighing.

“Oh shit. Fuck. Do you think it’s still open?” Clyde left the cutter lying in the dough, already moving to grab his bag. “Shit, what if someone took it?? They’re gonna steal my project!!”

“Oh jesus, that’s bad,” Tweek said, shivering at the thought of it. “That’s only one step away from stealing your entire identity, ack!!”

“I don’t think it’s that serious,” Token said, shaking his head with a smile. “But dude, seriously. You’re pretty fucked if it’s gone.”

“Want me to c-come look with you?” Jimmy offered, but Token shook his head.

“You guys are busy here. I can go with him to help look.”

“If you’re sh-sure.”

“If we’re not back before they’re done, decorate one of them as Merry Munchkin for me,” Clyde said, looking at the two of them with such a serious expression that Tweek couldn’t help but nod and swallow.

“...That’s a pretty outdated ruh-rre-reference, huh,” Jimmy said after the other two had left the room. The room felt a lot emptier, the aura a little more oppressive. Talking one on one was always so much pressure.

“Ngh, maybe it’s like a memory thing?” Tweek said, then glanced down at the outlines in the dough thoughtfully. “Maybe I should decorate some of them like Red Racer characters, ack...”

“Th-that’s the only time I think I’ve ever h-heard someone make Red Racer ro-romantic,” Jimmy said, laughing, and Tweek just shrugged with a small smile. Then he glanced back down at the dough again, frowning slightly.

“Mine are kind of weird looking, ngh.” Some of them had been stretched out in the dough and ended up too long, and some had slightly misshapen limbs from where Tweek had trembled pressing the cutter down. A few were uneven, too. Would Craig really like these??

“Nothing wrong with being a little w-weird,” Jimmy said, then grinned at Tweek with a wink. “We would know.”

Tweek stared for a few seconds, before letting himself give a small grin back. It was just a small gesture, but somehow he felt like suddenly the tension in the air had faded. Like instead of Jimmy being forced to be with him, he’d accepted him, and was fine hanging out with Tweek.

“Definitely,” Tweek said, then laughed, pressing the cookie cutter down again. It was good, even if a little shaky.

-

Craig always kept his room impossibly clean, and Tweek never understood why or how. As a kid, he’d just assumed it had been the work of his mom, but as the years passed he realised that Craig just really liked to clean. Not even any coffee cups scattered under the bed. Tweek didn’t get how he did it.

But even if it was different to his own room and what he used to, Tweek liked Craig’s room. It looked boring and simple, but then there were little things that stood out, like star stickers on the ceiling or the old birthday cards stacked up on his dresser. Craig said he couldn’t be bothered getting rid of them, but Tweek was pretty sure he just didn’t want to.

“Don’t give him any attention, he’s being an asshole,” Craig called to him as Tweek leaned down by Stripe’s cage, smiling as the guinea pig stood up against the bars. “He peed in my hand earlier.”

“He’s not an asshole, he’s just misunderstood,” Tweek said, poking a small piece of kale through the bars to Stripe’s mouth. “Aren’t you?”

“Not really,” Craig muttered, keeping his focus on his game, and Tweek just smiled as Stripe whirred his mouth around and slowly sucked up the kale. Stripe was another thing that made Craig’s room just a little less ordinary. Always squeaking for attention and running around. Even sometimes in the night, when Tweek slept over, he could hear Stripe rummaging around his food bowl.

Moving away from Stripe’s cage, Tweek went to sit on the edge of Craig’s bed, half-watching his latest attempt to clear the level. He’d offered a go to Tweek earlier, but Tweek honestly preferred just watching. It was too much pressure to be in control like that. One wrong step and he died?? No way.

“Ngh, you made it further than you did last time,” Tweek said as Craig’s character died again, fading out, and Craig turned around in his chair and leaned his head back.

“I’m done now anyway,” he said, putting the controller down. “It gets boring after a while.”

Tweek nodded, before his eyes drifted to his bag. The gingerbread was still in there, and even though there was no risk of it melting like the chocolate, Tweek knew he needed to hurry up and hand it over. It would be easier if he just gave it to Craig as soon as he got there, he knew that, but it felt weird to arrive and instantly throw something at Craig. But he’d already been there for two hours. Oh god, what if it all went stale? Unless it already had??

“I don’t know how you can say he’s not an asshole,” Craig was saying, leaning down towards Stripe’s cage. “He’s giving me that look again.”

“He’s giving you that look _because_ you’re calling him an asshole!!” Tweek said, already scouring through his bag. “It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, man!! You’re ruining his chances of guinea pig success.”

“Huh,” Craig said. “Is that true, Stripe?”

“Oh, also-“ Tweek thrust out the box again, and Craig leaned back from the cage to look at him. The non-sequitur was awkward, but Tweek couldn’t really think of any way to lead into the conversation. Guinea pigs didn’t really eat gingerbread. “Here! It’s, ngh. Another test recipe.”

“Oh.” Craig took a step towards him and took the plastic box. “Thanks.”

“It’s gingerbread!!” Tweek exclaimed, just in case Craig couldn’t tell what the slightly misshapen biscuits were supposed to be. Especially after Tweek had added the icing, they’d gone to a whole new level of abstract. “They’re- a little weird, but that’s okay, I think.”

“They look like you made them,” Craig said, smiling just a little as he lifted up the lid.

“Ack! What’s that supposed to mean??”

“It means they’re good,” Craig said. “’Cause you’re good at making stuff.”

Then he bit off the head of the gingerbread man, and Tweek was just a little relieved that he seemed to have caught on enough to not have to ask Craig to try it. Getting his opinion on the other hand...

“...Is it okay?” Tweek asked after a few seconds, feeling his shoulder twitching slightly.

“Babe, I already said. They’re good.”

“...Right.” Tweek was starting to wonder if maybe Craig just didn’t know any other words to describe food other than ‘good’. That was three attempts down, and still nothing. Maybe he really didn’t like sweet stuff.

“You want one?” Craig offered suddenly, holding one out to Tweek. “You did make them, after all.”

“Sure...” Tweek took it from him, staring down at its lopsided scream of a smile, and three eyes.

Well, at least they tasted okay.

-

“You might not know this, but I’m a _master_ baker.”

“You muh-mmight want to be careful about how you say that, Clyde,” Jimmy said, laughing as Clyde’s confused face morphed into one of indignation.

“I’m serious! I’ve been baking since I was a little kid.” Clyde stepped forward and clicked on the stove with an over-exaggerated movement. Tweek just twitched a little, really hoping this wasn’t another one of Clyde’s embellished feats. “My family taught me a bunch of recipes.”

The phrasing of that sentence was deliberate, Tweek could tell. Back then, he hadn’t really been hanging out with Craig’s group, but the whole school had heard about what happened. Something about Clyde choosing to bring it up, no matter how subtle, made Tweek feel a little bad for assuming he wouldn’t know how to make anything.

“Truffles take forever to set though, so we better be quick,” Clyde said, pulling the cream and chocolate towards him.

“Just stick ‘em outside,” Jimmy said, throwing a look to the heavy snow that was blowing outside the window. As was forever typical for mid-December Colorado. “That should do the t-trick.”

“Do you think it would taste different if you did that?” Clyde said, leaning down thoughtfully against the counter. Tweek twitched violently and probably almost tore Clyde’s sleeve off with the force he pulled him back with.

“You’ve still got the stove on, ack!!”

“Oh shit-“ Clyde stumbled back, checking his arm which was luckily unscathed. Tweek blinked rapidly.

“I guess this is what happens when you’re good at baking but still a dumbass,” Token said, sighing.

“I’m just not used to this environment,” Clyde said, recovering almost instantly as he put the pot over the heated stove, and made work on unwrapping the butter. Tweek took the much easier task of opening the chocolate. “For real though, we gotta finish them before five. I don’t wanna get locked in the school.”

“I mean, it’s not that bad,” Token said.

“It’s different if you’re with a girl,” Clyde said, pulling a face. “Being stuck with four other guys doesn’t really have the same effect.”

“Aw Clyde, what happened to b-bros before hoes??” Jimmy asked, nudging him slightly.

“I mean, _yeah_ ,” Clyde said, dumping a spoonful of butter into the pan almost blindly. “But isn’t there like, double Ds before besties? Or something??”

“I’ve...never heard that,” Token said, frowning. Clyde waved his hand.

“I’m sure it exists, somewhere.”

Following Clyde’s instructions ended up being the hardest out of the three of them, since Clyde kept up constant chatter about almost anything other than the actual baking. All the times he did explain, it was always the wrong kind of thing, like telling Tweek why it was important to use cream whilst not telling him how much to add or when. Difficult, but at least it kept his brain busy focusing on the baking rather than anything else, like if the storm outside was going to turn into a bigger blizzard because of climate change and then they’d all stuck in the school and freeze or starve to death. Stuff like that.

As it turned out, Clyde had been right about the truffles taking a long time, and during one of the fridge breaks, Jimmy and Token decided to head off. Tweek couldn’t really blame them. It was the last day of school, after all. Most people would be eager to get home. Apparently neither Tweek nor Clyde were in that category.

“It’s actually been ages since I last baked though,” Clyde said suddenly, cutting through the silence that had settled between the two of them since they’d finished the washing up. They still had fifteen minutes before they could take out the truffles to transport home, where Tweek could finish them tomorrow morning. “I’ve had fun doing all this stuff.”

“Mm, yeah. It beats making coffee all day,” Tweek muttered, jerking his head. “ _Decaf_ coffee.”

“Is it bad working there?” Clyde asked, looking up from his phone. “My dad used to make me help out in our shop sometimes, but it was never a big deal.”

“It’s- ack!” Tweek looked for the right word. Having to deal with impatient customers and people who only paid in small change or only paid in huge notes but neither of them ever apologised, or having to stand at the cash register even when the shop had been empty for the past hour because his dad didn’t want to risk anyone stealing it- “...A lot of pressure.”

“I guess I get that,” Clyde said, looking thoughtful. “But baking’s fun, right?”

“I like baking,” Tweek admitted. “But I don’t really get to do it at the café, ngh. Half of it’s store bought.”

“What, really? That sucks. Looks like I really will have to start paying you in private to make me cookies.”

Tweek just laughed a little, turning back to his phone when he couldn’t think of anything more to add.

“But I’m pretty sure Craig’s gonna like these,” Clyde continued, and Tweek looked up again. “And I’m not just saying that because I’m a master- ...a really good baker.”

“Ngh, I hope so,” Tweek said, gazing towards the fridge. “This is pretty much my last chance, ack. Only five days to go, oh jesus.”

“I think it’ll be fine,” Clyde said, with that rare voice of wisdom Tweek always knew he had but hardly ever heard. “Hey, can I tell you something?”

“Oh god, what did I do??” Did he hate him now?? Was this the part where Clyde really did end up killing him? After luring the other two away from the room, now was his chance to attack-

“What?” Clyde stared. “It’s nothing bad, dude.”

“Oh, ngh. Okay.”

“Craig was really boring, before,” Clyde started, smiling a little. “He didn’t really care about anything, for real. Even with us, he was just like, a total robot.”

Tweek fidgeted with his phone. At the same moment, a message from Craig popped up, though he didn’t click it.

“But like, he’s not really like that anymore,” Clyde continued. “Maybe a little, but mostly. I think it’s ‘cause he likes being around you. And then he realised he likes being around other people too.”

“I’m sure he liked you guys before,” Tweek murmured, twisting his phone around in his hands. The corners were chipped from all the times he’d dropped it.

“Maybe, but he sucked at expressing it. I think he’s better now.”

“Maybe.”

Clyde leaned towards him from his chair, grinning. “And you like being around him too, right??”

Tweek nodded slowly, wondering how that wasn’t obvious.

“That’s why I think it’s good!” Clyde said, looking satisfied. “You’re a good balance.”

Tweek looked away again, feeling embarrassed for some reason. To distract his mind from the conversation, he tapped the message from Craig. Instantly a picture of Stripe wearing a tiny Santa hat popped up, and Tweek bit back a laugh.

Craig: _i decorated stripe for christmas  
_ Craig: _hes still an asshole though_

“I think you’re right,” Tweek said then, smiling at he looked up. Clyde just nodded sagely, and grinned again.

-

Ten minutes before closing time, and Tweak Bros was totally dead.

Tweek resisted the urge to lean his head down against the counter, knowing that the second he did _anything_ out of line, his dad would come and lecture him about professionalism and ‘proper customer interaction’. Like Tweek even cared by this point.

Trying to look as if he wasn’t about to collapse, Tweek leaned over to give a final check to the leftover pastries of the day. Always so much waste. Tweek didn’t get why they didn’t just give them away for free at closing time, instead of throwing them all in the trash.

Looking at the cakes and shortbread reminded him momentarily of the truffles he still had stored away in the backroom’s fridge, figuring they’d be safer here than at his house. Especially since he had a shift today...and tomorrow too...

The bell’s chime echoed from the door, and Tweek forced himself to stand up a little, happy at least to have something to do for the last five minutes. Unless they tried to sit in. Then Tweek was going to kill them.

“Hey, babe.”

“Craig?!” His head snapped over to the door, seeing the unmistakable face of his boyfriend busy kicking off the snow on his shoes in the entranceway.

“How’s it going,” he asked after he’d finished, walking up to the counter. Just having him there was enough to take away most of the exhaustion of the past seven hours.

“If I hear Let It Snow one more time, I’m going to kill myself.” Most of it.

“Yeah, I get that.” Craig’s eyes flickered to the window. Like the past few days, there was still a heavy downpour of snow and sleet that had long since clogged the streets. “The last thing we need is more of that shit.”

“Right?? It’s like he’s trying to sing us all to our deaths, ack.”

“You not done yet?” Craig asked then, glancing around the empty café.

“Almost,” Tweek said, frowning. His parents always waited until exactly or just after his designated finishing time. Never early. “What are you doing here, anyway? You wanted to order something?”

“Not really.” Craig shrugged. “Unless I’ll get kicked out otherwise.”

“You’re not gonna get kicked out,” Tweek said, laughing slightly. Especially since he could still see the melting snow on Craig’s hat and jacket. The thought of sending him back out there was totally insane.

“Then no,” Craig said. “And also, just because I wanted to come and see you.”

“Oh...!” Tweek looked away, smiling a little. It wasn’t the first time Craig had come in just to talk to him, but it was always an occurrence that made his day feel a lot better. One of those things he knew couldn’t happen every day, but still wanted it to.

“You wanna come over to mine later? You still haven’t seen Stripe’s latest fashion.”

“I can’t believe he let you put that hat on him,” Tweek said, laughing again.

“For about three seconds. Then he started trying to eat it, so I had to take it off.”

“Well, he looked cute,” Tweek said, already wishing he was sat on Craig’s bed with Stripe’s soft fur brushing against his fingers, instead of stood here in a cold and empty café.

Just then, the backroom door opened, and Tweek felt another wave of relief wash over him. Finally. He was free to leave the confines of the cash register area.

“Tweek, sweetheart, you can finish up with the register for today,” his mom said as she stepped in, then paused as she saw Craig, smiling in that way that always made Tweek feel embarrassed. “Oh, hello, Craig.”

“Hi, Mrs. Tweak.”

“Tweek is finishing now, so you boys can go on a little date if you want,” she said with a wink, and Tweek had the sudden urge to evaporate.

“Um, okay,” Craig said, giving that very subtle face of ‘what the fuck’ that Tweek knew most people didn’t really pick up on.

“We can take care of the cleaning, Tweek,” his mom said, turning to him with a soft smile. “Don’t worry about it. Go and be gay.”

“...Thanks, ngh.”

The two of them watched in silence as Tweek’s mom checked the register and a few of the coffee pots in the back, her heels clicking loudly as she stepped up and down the shop. After a painful thirty seconds, she finally disappeared again, and Tweek let out a breath.

“You really saved me, man,” he said, slumping down. “I saw a kid pour a whole cup of iced coffee down the back of the sofa earlier, and I didn’t wanna go anywhere near that.”

“Gross. So you wanna come over?”

“Yeah!” Tweek made work on unwrapping his apron, hands fumbling around the knot that had hardly been done up in the first place. Just as he was about to push the counter entrance up, he paused, mind suddenly going two hundred miles an hour. “Actually, I just need to-“

Tweek flew into the backroom in a matter of seconds, grabbing the box out of the fridge before his parents could make a full comment about his work or Craig or anything else that he didn’t know how to reply to. When he returned back to the counter, Craig blinked at him.

“Again?” he said, taking the box and looking inside. “Honey, you’ve really been going crazy with this stuff. Isn’t Christmas almost over now anyway? Do you even still need to test these?”

“Mmm, maybe??” Oh no, was he finally starting to catch on?? Well, it had been almost four weeks of constantly giving him sweets. “But, ngh. We can always use it for next year, so...”

“I guess,” Craig said, giving a half shrug, before putting a truffle in his mouth. Tweek waited, holding his breath. This was the last chance he had. The very end. If Craig didn’t like this, he was screwed. But, Clyde had been so confident that he would like them, so...! “Yeah, they’re good, babe.”

“...O...kay.”

“We can eat the rest at mine,” Craig carried on, and Tweek watched as he put the box in his bag, feeling like he was watching Craig tuck away his hopes and dreams. “Don’t tell my parents or Tricia though, they’ll try to steal them. Learned my lesson after they ate half the cookies you gave me.”

“Sure,” Tweek said, feeling emptiness settle inside him. Good. Just good. Everything had been just good. Had he really expected any other reaction?? Maybe Craig just didn’t have taste buds. Oh god, what if he straight up just didn’t have any. Or, more likely, he just really didn’t have any preference?? Was there something else he should’ve tested? Something savoury, probably. Oh god, why didn’t he think of that?? And now he had no time left.

It was over.

-

December 24th.

Nothing. Tweek had nothing. He’d spent the few days he had furiously scouring the shops and trying to decide if Craig would want _anything_ there, but in the end, he ended up with nothing. At the time, he’d been telling himself that nothing was better than a bad gift, but being sat here on Christmas Eve knowing that he didn’t get his boyfriend anything at all was making that thinking seem a lot more warped than it had back then.

Oh god. He’d be lucky if he still _had_ a boyfriend after all of this.

Tweek glanced between his phone and the Christmas tree set up in their front room, feeling the pressure build up more and more with every flash of the lights. His parents had told him to come down and spend time with them, even though they were busy in the kitchen. It was always like this. They asked him to sit with them, put on _more_ of the same Christmas playlists Tweek had been enduring for weeks, and then went to get drunk in the kitchen.

The nagging in his mind told him that if he wasn’t being forced to sit here, he could go out and try again to look for a present, but it was definitely too late now. Past 5pm. Even the convenience store would be shut, so there went his plan of getting Craig some drain cleaner or whatever else.

He had to do _something_. With shaking fingers, Tweek pulled up his messages with Craig, swallowing hard. He was probably spending time with his family too. Probably way too busy to reply to Tweek. Especially for something stupid like this. But- he couldn’t just leave things the way they were now. Weren’t relationships all about trying?? Or that might’ve been a tip for good grades. Fuck. Tweek couldn’t remember.

_Tweek: CAn we meet up???_

As soon as he sent it, Tweek instantly clicked his screen off, holding his phone in his lap where he couldn’t see it. Focused on the red and green flash of the tree, and his parents laughing in the other room, and more fucking _Dean Martin-_

The phone buzzed again, not even thirty seconds later, and Tweek’s arm jerked. Even as he lifted it up, he was sure it was going to be a message to leave him alone, it was Christmas Eve for god’s sake-

Craig: _now?_

Tweek blinked.

_Tweek: If it's okay!!  
Craig: yeah idm  
Craig: come over_

Sometimes Tweek was sure Craig was too nice to him.

_Tweek: But ca  
Tweek: Can we meet half way!!!!  
Craig: its cold though  
Tweek: I know But !!!! It's ttoo much pressure at your house_   
_Craig: ugh fine  
Craig: but babe bring a coat this time its cold  
Tweek: OF course I"m going to bring a coat it's ffreezing outside!!!! I'd DIE!!!!!!!!  
Craig: sure sure_

It felt unfair, since Tweek remembered a coat _most_ of the time, and it wasn’t even as cold as it could get, but- it was nice to have a reminder. Especially since he wouldn’t be bringing anything else. No gingerbread or chocolate or anything else. Totally empty handed. Ugh.

As expected, his parents hardly even noticed when he stuck his head into the kitchen. He could already see two bottles of wine on the side, and it wasn’t even seven yet. Jesus, what was with people in this town and getting as drunk as possible at Christmas??

“Mom, Dad, ack! Can I go out for a bit?”

“But, Tweek, it’s Christmas Eve,” his father said, turning towards him with a frown. “Where are you going on Christmas Eve?”

“Um...” It was a card he hated pulling, even if it had a perfect success rate. “...To see Craig, ngh?”

“Aww, let him go, Richard,” his mother cooed, hands clasped together. “It’s not fair to make them spend Christmas Eve apart!”

“Well, okay, but be back before ten!” his father said, and Tweek nodded, eager to get out of the kitchen and out of the house before they could start making other comments. Too many times they’d tried to convince him to take an overly lovey-dovey picture of him and Craig drinking Tweak Bros coffee together, for advertisement. Just the idea made him want to puke.

It turned out to be a little bit colder than Tweek was expecting outside, and he was suddenly worried that he’d made Craig come out in the freezing cold just to learn how bad a boyfriend Tweek was. Well, he hadn’t been wrong about needing to bring a coat, though. Even if his nose and fingers were still surrendered to the cold.

Heavy snow always made everything seem quieter than it actually was, and Tweek found himself feeling just a little calmer as he walked slowly down the street, taking care not to slip. If it wasn’t for the obvious skid marks all over the road and pavement, he might have even believed he was walking through a peaceful and calm town. Somewhere normal. Though, honestly, Tweek was sure he’d fit in even less if that was the case.

Halfway between Tweek’s house and Craig’s luckily wasn’t too far, and he spotted Craig waiting in the distance, leaning against the railings beside the road. Even though they were probably freezing too, and Craig was probably just getting a cold ass. Idiot.

“Hey,” he said, waving as he spotted Tweek approaching. Obviously he was there first. He probably didn’t tell his parents he was leaving, or didn’t even walk slower to avoid falling over. Sometimes Tweek wondered what it would be like to care about everything so little. He would’ve said it was impossible, if he’d never met Craig.

“Ngh, hi.” Tweek fidgeted in place, trying to think of a good way to confess to being literally the worst. It was harder than he expected. “...How was the Red Racer finale?”

“Eh, it was okay.” Craig shrugged, and Tweek watched the snow on his shoulder. “I thought they should’ve given more attention to the main characters though.”

“Mm, yeah.” So he didn’t say that was just ‘good’. Did that indicate any kind of a difference between okay and good?? Not that it mattered anymore. Clearly Tweek just couldn’t read his boyfriend at all. Even after thinking about it so much, probably _too_ much, he’d made zero progress.

“So why did you want to meet here-“

“I’m sorry, ack!!” Tweek burst out, ducking his head down slightly to avoid meeting Craig’s stare. A beat passed whilst Tweek waited for ‘you should be sorry, asshole’, and to hear the sounds of Craig’s footsteps getting further away, crunching in the snow like they were crunching his _soul_ -

“What?”

“...I didn’t get you a present, ngh,” Tweek said, slowly looking up, but still feeling too guilty to meet Craig’s eyes. “Sorry. I’m- a bad boyfriend.”

“...Babe, you’ve literally been giving me presents all month.”

Now Tweek had to look up, confused as to why _Craig_ was confused. Wasn’t this obvious? “They weren’t _Christmas_ presents though!”

“Then what were they?”

“They were just- tests, ack! The others helped me to make them to figure out what you liked best, but even after we tried lots of stuff, I still couldn’t figure it out, ack!! Even though you’re my boyfriend!”

“Oh.” Another pause. “Why didn’t you just ask me?”

“Because!!” Tweek started, ready to feel frustrated by how obvious this was, before he realised maybe it wasn’t even that obvious. “...It was supposed to be a surprise.”

“I wouldn’t have minded though.”

“It’s just-!!” Tweek shook his head, trying to calm down his thoughts. “What _is_ your favourite?”

“Uhh...” Craig frowned, and Tweek stayed still, waiting for the answer to be something super obvious that he could’ve guessed if he was just a little more attentive- “I don’t know, really. I liked all the stuff you gave me.”

“...So you really don’t have a favourite...” Tweek hung his head down to stare at the snow, feeling almost like he could see his own forlorn face staring back at him in a pseudo-reflection against the white.

“I don’t mean like that,” Craig said. “I mean, just. Anything you make. Because it’s you. I like it.”

“...That’s pretty gay, man,” Tweek muttered, still refusing to look up, but for a different reason now.

“Same to you. Oh, that reminds me-“ There was a rustle as Craig took off his bag from his shoulder, and when Tweek finally forced himself to look up, Craig was holding out a small decorated bag. He seemed to notice Tweek’s staring. “I was going to use just a plastic bag, but my mom yelled at me.”

Very slowly, with hands still trembling, Tweek took the bag from Craig, and after a moment’s hesitation, peered into the top. A pair of grey gloves, similar to Craig’s.

“I don’t think I put as much thought into as you, though,” Craig continued, glancing off to the side and absently brushing some snow off his shoulder. “I know you like to hold my hand to keep warm, but. I guess you can be twice as warm now.”

“Oh...” A wave of affection bloomed in Tweek’s chest, and before he could convince himself not to, he wrapped his arms around Craig, even though half his body was already numb and his coat was covered in snow. “Thank you, Craig. But, ngh, I still feel bad I didn’t get anything for you.”

“Trust me, Tweek,” Craig said, pulling him back slightly to look into his eyes, hands still on his waist. “You did.”

Tweek stared back, caught in his gaze for a moment, before he remember how to speak again. Jesus, this really was a Christmas romance. “Can I- make you something?? But this time, we can make it together.”

“Sure. Like what?”

“You pick.”

“Hmm.” Craig paused for a moment, not taking his hands off Tweek’s waist. “I guess I liked the cookies you made at the start. We probably have the stuff to make those.”

“Okay,” Tweek said, then couldn’t help but laugh. God, it was the very first thing he made. He should’ve just stuck with that first ‘good’ and gone with those. But then again, spending all that time with Craig’s friends – or, now, _his_ friends too – had been nice.

“Come on, let’s go,” Craig said, finally breaking the embrace and moving to take Tweek’s hand, as automatic as always. “My mom’s gonna be pissed if I get sick on Christmas.”

“Ngh, I warned you about pneumonia.”

“Yeah, you did.”

“...I liked baking with the others, though,” Tweek said as they walked along together, holding the gift bag tightly in his other hand. “It was fun.”

“Yeah, Clyde’s super into all that stuff.”

“All of them helped!”

Craig looked at him, raising an eyebrow. “Even Token?”

“Yeah. He was good at it.”

Craig snorted. “Which one was that? I didn’t know he knew how to do that stuff.”

“The first one,” Tweek said, then paused and stared at Craig. “Do _you_ know how to make anything?”

“Nope.” Zero shame.

“I’m gonna teach you.”

“Okay,” Craig said, nodding once. “My fate is in your hands, honey.”

Maybe it wasn’t quite over yet.

**Author's Note:**

> i know nothing about baking i had to learn for this fic >>  
> i needed to write something short and simple before i get knee deep into my super long fic ;o; (coming soon!!!!! i hope!!!)  
> thank you for reading and have happy holidays ;u;


End file.
